It's been a long, odd day. I wrote in this diary not more than fifteen hours ago that Jubal had disappeared from the center of the Pattern. I was left guarding his flute, while inscribing Pattern on my mace, but not long after I got a trump from Jubal, who said he wanted the flute. I passed it through the trump, holding it with my handkerchief. Jubal then asked if I wanted to use Sequence. I said sure, and allowed myself to be pulled through into the midst of a very interesting scene. My mother and Jubal were in an underground chamber, where a woman was held suspended in midair with lots of light bands around her. Things only got stranger from this point on, because I was then welcomed to the Courts of Chaos. Not perhaps the first place one wants to be when one has still not fully recovered from too much Pattern walking. Fiona and Jubal had a discussion about spell-breaking; I used my limited sense of sorcery to look and see what was going on on that other level, and was quite surprised by what I saw. Jubal hung a defensive spell on himself, and then he broke the bands of light. I saw a rush of lava come through and then just simply disappear. However, my attention was taken away from this by the scaly creature coming towards us. I could have taken the thing if it weren't so blasted strong. They say things of Chaos have less strength than Amberites, but you couldn't tell by *that* beast. It threw me back a couple feet. It's weapon was magicked, too, otherwise it could never have stood up to Sequence's edge. That was damned annoying. Sequence is the strongest blade I've ever come across. Shoving it into a flagstone has never dulled it's edge. The only blades of comparable strength I've ever handled were Song and Curetana, the blades of my sibs. Calamus never forged blades any stronger than these three, no matter how much he was paid. Curetana hangs at Senlin's side, since Rosemary's death; Song was talked to sleep by Sequence, and buried with it's maker and wielder. Now that I have written down this vital information (I'm tired, my mind wanders)... Well, anyhow, this thing the creature was using only sparked when hit by Sequence. Sequence should have been able to cleave it in half, dammitall. The lack of malleability didn't appear to bother anyone else. Mother cast a spell and flung the thing back ten feet, and then dropped the ceiling on it. I thought this was very prudent of her, but I didn't see how it was really any less crude than trying to fight it with sword (she is always so fastidious about that sort of thing, wrinkling her nose at the thought of edged weapons). At this point, we decide to leave, since more Chaosites are coming to see what broke the spell. Back in the Great Hall, I find that I've arrived in one piece, but it looks like Jubal has shifted again-- this time to something huge and furry, and if it weren't for all the teeth and claws, something I might wish to keep as a pet. The woman he rescued was balled up against the wall. I went over to her and did my best to check her out; my first aid training and such is minimal, though I could tell she had a skull fracture, so I trumped Uncle Gerard and asked for his help. He came in, bristled at Jubal, but noticed that I wasn't threatened by the creature, and got to work checking out the woman. He decided to move her to the infirmary. Jubal and I followed him up the stairs; we were followed by a concerned looking Archimedes. Once in the infirmary, Gerard turns me into his assistant. As he shaves her head, and I am set to the task of restraining her and getting his equipment together, I wonder if it wouldn't be prudent to get a bit more advanced medical training at some point. I grew up in a shadow where we would have cut the woman's head open and dumped in some salt and cobwebs; I have spent time in a more advanced shadow, earning my botanical bio-engineering degree, but that's useless for helping people. While I'm working, Kalyn comes in and starts asking questions. I'm too busy to answer, even though I know I am now in the presence of the most taciturn group of people currently alive in Amber, one Jubal being the first and foremost of said group. Kalyn leaves, and I'm glad. But this is not to be the end of my interruptions, for I get something unnervingly like a trump contact; it is Sandr's voice, asking for a meeting. I send a page to say I'm busy now and will meet him later. Gerard asked who the woman was about half-way through the surgery, which deepened my respect for the man. Of all the Amberites, he is perhaps the only one who does not suffer the taint. For generosity of spirit, he gets full marks. I explained to him what I knew of the situation, and we tried to get some information out of Jubal, who was at the time, pulling his hair inward (practicing shapeshifting, I guess). The process was not all that unnerving to watch, being much more gradual than the changes that occurred in his body when he walked the Pattern. We hit upon a series of questions that Jubal would answer; I remember being very curious to know what this woman was in relation to Jubal. It's probably his mother. Too bad it's not his wife. He doesn't talk much, but his eyes watch *my* mother, and if you don't think it's unnerving to consider Fiona and *Jubal* as a couple, think again. Of course, I still can't figure out what that whole dancing blood thing is. I don't really want to think about it. It took a while, but eventually, the watching paid off, and Jubal shifted back to Jubal-shape. I went to my room. Sandr didn't forget he wanted to talk to me, which is too bad, because we could have avoided the whole scene that followed. It really went far to add to the weirdness of the day. Sandr came in, handed me a huge bouquet of flowers and opened a box. He took an ornate dagger from the box and put my hand on the hilt and aimed it at his chest. It was a grand gesture, I suppose, and worthy of a ballad if we were in a simple shadow. However, we are in Amber. Ballads aren't written here anymore. I forgave the silly little freckled boy, and agreed to go see what happened to his room, but on the way there, I heard a voice I recognized from earlier today in the infirmary. I drew Sequence and we ran inside to see our friendly Chaos creature from this morning doing his best to win the Ugliest Demon of the Week Award. I sent lightning bolts to it, which only served to annoy rather than damage. I was casting Boil Cerebral Fluid when it attacked me, so I never got the spell off, though I think Sandr held his concentration for Hydrogenate Blood, because the creature began to turn blue in the face and disappeared. In the ruckus, Sequence got impressed into the floor by the creature's blade. I went over to my blade and pried the creature's off of mine, and thought I might take this opportunity to cleave the damn thing in half, as it should have been in the first place. Archimedes stopped me, and requested the blade, which I lugged over to him. The question of pursuit was brought up and decided upon. The next ten minutes were extremely trying, but eventually, I followed Sandr, Gerard and Archimedes to Forest Arden to intercept the creature. I trumped Uncle Julian, who knew the thing was in his domain, and was riding out way. The creature appeared, and we fanned out around it. It saw us and began to chant a spell. Archimedes rushed it, and I thought I would move behind it and cast a spell while waiting for an opening. Gerard entered the fray and beat the thing soundly for the most part, and whumped it down just as I finished the cardiac arrest spell. The creature clapped it's spiked wrists on either side of Gerard's head; I noticed Archimedes was without a sword, and sent Sequence to him hilt first. Archimedes hamstringed the beast when it stood, and then almost got crushed when it fell. The creature disappeared again, as Julian flew past on Morganstern. Very soon after, Julian reappeared with the head. I asked for an ear, a request which Julian scorned. I took Sequence and went for some fingers instead. I was going to run some tests on the fingers; the creature was of chaos, no doubt, but some curiosities must be satisfied. The frog remains never focused under my microscope; would these? And then there was the fact that some Chaos bones would nicely round out the Talking Bone spell when and if I gain the ability to write it. And finally, I wondered what would happen if I were to draw the Pattern on the bones. Sandr and I trumped back home; Archimedes decided to walk. We went to my room, where we set to casting spells. I used all of my racked offensive spells today. We were interrupted from time to time by Cameron, who had a good idea, and Kalyn, who invited me to fence and asked us to a party. I agreed to fence after dinner, but I declined the party. I need to spend some time on the Pattern. And I need to sleep. And before all that, I need to finish reracking my spells. I went to dinner, where the infinitude of shadows was discussed, then went fencing, and now, I have to get to work racking.